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For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .

''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007

Sunday, December 12, 2010

contrast

There are two very different things being created here at the moment. My throw is one and then there is this piece of white. This is a small piece of white on white silk embroidered yesterday and damp stretched overnight. This piece will become the cloth that peeps through holes in some luxurios silk cushions I am making.These are kind of an order, a very posh order and that's just about all I can say at the moment but even though information will be in short supply images won't, you will be here and allowed to share in every stage of this ''order''. Basically I will be giving this so much attention that there will be very little else going on. and...just incase you are wondering...they are not for the ''big'' wedding that's coming up in april, they asked but sometimes you just have to decline!! (if you believe that who knows what other tales will be spun here!!)The wedding actually, very importantly, is on my little girls birthday! I told her they had done that deliberately so that she could have the day off work, how considerate were they in their planning??!!

and alongside the white is my throw. Another colourful section is now finished, damp stretched and ready to be added. Now you may be thinking that I spend a very leisurely life, embroidery on my knee, a little bit like the privileged ladies of Victorian times but ask yourself this.....did they have a mountain of ironing blocking out light in their dining room? Did they have a pile of dirty laundry so big that they were convinced the neighbours had snook in and added to it overnight? Did they have cupboards so bare that their offspring were offered charitable assistance? That is life chez moi my friends and I think I should attend to at least one or two of those pressing duties sometime before christmas.... baa humbug.....I intend to ask Santa for a butler. I have done several times already and I await his arrival, maybe this time...

So the rest of my sunday will be spent......ironing......with maybe a little bit of embroidery fitted in somewhere.....

Oh your embroidery is SO PRETTY!! They white - it brings tears to my eyes. I have a white piece brewing in my mind (for quite some time now). I need to get it out! Beautiful!!! I'm so glad I found you. : )~Monikain Canada

You've again given me a big grin along with those images of your beautiful work.

Yes, I remember when teaching and my business got in the way of traveling with my husband. I gave up teaching and gave the business to our daughter. ;) I had worked enough years and the house is paid off so I didn't have any regrets!

I have this theory that the reason so many 'great' artists were men is that, somewhere, they had either a housekeeper or a wife doing all the chores, leaving them uninterrupted, undistracted and free to create. My house-elves don't seem to be too keen on housework either.

Incredible! Your colorful quilt is a joy to look at. I love the color combos on your new work. They make my mouth water!!! The white on white is gorgeous. I wish the cushions were being made for me!!;~) Debi xo

Karen it is bliss to browse your work ,I saw on Sarah's blog ,that she had bought herself some of your lovely embroidery ,I have looked at your etsy shop ,but Im not very good with dollars ,I would like to see your prices in stirling ..love Jan xx

Oh, Karen--You're so funny. I do love the idea of having a butler, though!! Hmmm, let's see who we might cast in that role. Not an Anthony Hopkins kind of butler... more like Daniel Craig or, ooooh, ooooh, I have it! Colin Firth!!! Yes, indeed! (Insert truly inappropriate buffing or shining joke here.)XXO-

Karen, it is always such a pleasure stopping by to visit. Eye Candy and so much more.

I have always loved the whites. You speak clearest without any colour at all, yet the ginghams make me warm and cozy feeling inside. They remind me of home and stopping at Grandmas house on Sunday mornings.

You even manage to find real gingham with the white border around the coloured checks! It's great to see you using colour sometimes as well as the white - you have your own style in both, completely unmistakeable!